Cutting inserts which are removably secured in a cutting body are provided with a suitably hard material, i.e. cemented carbide, in the vicinity of the cutting edge, where the cutting body, manufactured from a less hard material, is reusable following the disposal of a worn or damaged cutting insert. Cutting inserts are clamped within an insert receiving pockets located on the periphery of the tool body, for holding and supporting the cutting inserts during operation against a workpiece. Cutting inserts are known in the art, having indicia or marking thereon, to indicate to an operator a direction of indexing of the cutting insert.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,008,146 issued to DeRoche, et al., and entitled “Milling Cutter with Tangentially Mounted Inserts”, is directed to an indexable cutting insert for a milling cutter tool, including a first and a second face surfaces, first and second long edge surfaces, and first and second radiused shorter edge surfaces. Each long edge surface defines a primary cutting edge that extends from a substantially flat central plateau, through a first facet face, through a second facet face adjacent the first facet face, through a third facet face adjacent the second facet face to one of the first and second radiused shorter edge surfaces. The second facet face is disposed between the first facet and the third facet face. The cutting insert includes a locating dimple for assisting in the positioning of the cutting insert in the cutting tool.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,190,096 issued to Arthur, and entitled “Indexable Cutting Insert with Indexing Marks”, is directed to an indexable cutting insert which presents a rake face and a flank face. The rake face and the flank face intersect to form a generally circular cutting edge. At least one of the flank face and the rake face has a visually perceivable indicia thereon, to indicate a plurality of discrete indexable positions of the circular cutting insert.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,488 issued to Kasperik et al., and entitled “Cutting Insert with Universal Identification”, is directed to a cutting insert with marks of triangular shapes imprinted on the top surface thereof. The number of triangular shapes in each mark is representative of the cutting range for which the cutting insert will function best. The mark enables the machine operator to determine if the cutting insert is suited in one extreme for roughing applications and in another extreme for fine finishing applications with intermediate uses therebetween. The mark includes geometries which are not alpha-numeric characters and preferably a single geometry is presented in different quantities to indicate uses from roughing to finishing applications. The marks are positioned approximately perpendicular to their associated cutting edges to indicate the type of usage recommended for that cutting edge. When a mark is associated with each cutting edge, such marks may be symmetrically spaced adjacent the respective cutting edge. When there is only a single mark, such a mark may be placed anywhere in the non-active region of the cutting insert.
U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2010/0272522 to Hecht, and entitled “Cutting Insert and Cutting Insert Assembly”, is directed to a cutting insert assembly having an insert pocket with a pocket bore, a cutting insert and a fastening member coupling the cutting insert in the insert pocket. The cutting insert has a cutting insert bore, a first surface, a second surface and a peripheral surface extending therebetween. The first and second surfaces meet the peripheral surface at first and second peripheral edges, respectively, at least a portion of at least one of the first and second peripheral edges form a cutting edge. The cutting insert bore has at least two portions, the smallest of which having an oval cross section allowing a for quick replacing or indexing of the cutting insert, without having to completely remove the fastening member from the pocket bore.
When an operator approaches the cutting insert in order to remove it from the insert receiving pocket, there may be a difficulty in determining the orientation of the oval shape of the cutting insert bore portion, which would indicate the direction of rotation of the cutting insert required for releasing the insert from the fastening member. This difficulty may arise due to the small size of the cutting insert and the cutting insert bore, due to poor lighting conditions of the insert bore while the fastening member is still present therein, and the like.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved cutting insert, and a method for making thereof, the cutting insert having an indicia or a mark thereon, indicating an orientation of an non-circular cross-section of the insert hole thereof.